Sanitary napkin belt



Jan. 11, 1955 M. w. MOWILLIAMS 2,699,171 SANITARY NAPKINY BELT Filed April 27, 1955 IN V EN TOR. flmeaaksrcflf ("7560/11. 1.19073 United States Patent ."ce

SANITARY NAPKIN BELT Margaret W. McWilliams, Mount Lebanon, Pa.

Application April 27, 1953, Serial No. 351,186

2 Claims. (Cl. 128-291) This invention relates to a sanitary napkin belt. More particularly the invention relates to a belt which may be used for supporting sanitary napkins and permit the wearer to have freedom of movement without the napkin shifting or the belt binding or chafing the wearer.

The widely used sanitary belt consists of a single belt (often elastic) which passes around the waist of the wearer and has a tab in front and at the back to which a sanitary napkin is attached. This type of belt has the disadvantage of exerting a downward pressure on the abdomen as the wearer bends forward or assumes a sitting position. Such a belt also allows shifting of the napkin as the wearer moves into different postures, and often causes chafing due to movement of the belt and/ or napkin.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a sanitary napkin supporting belt which is comfortable and will permit the wearer to move into difierent postures without causing the napkin to shift in position.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sanitary napkin supporting belt which will not exert a downward pull on the abdomen and will permit free movement of the wearer to assume the desired postures without being uncomfortable.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the sanitary napkin supporting belt hereinafter illustrated and described and particularly defined in the appended claims.

The various features of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a portion of a human form with the sanitary belt of the present invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the sanitary belt as applied to a human form;

Fig. 3 is a side view of the two parts of a sanitary belt as applied to a human form;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one form of the pearshaped bands of the belt; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a modified form of one of the pear-shaped bands of the belt of the present invention.

The belt of the present invention is made up in two parts, one part of which is a pear-shaped band to pass across the back and around the hips of the wearer to come together at a front tab to which the front end of a sanitary napkin is to be attached. The other part of the belt is a pear-shaped band shaped to pass across the front of the body and come to a point at a back tab to be connected to the back end of a sanitary napkin. The two parts of the belt cross each other on the hips or thighs and are free to move circumferentially or vertically independently of one another. The two parts are connected together at the hip positions by loops which act to hold the two bands together.

Referring to the drawings, the front band of the belt consists of a pear-shaped band which has a loop 12 to pass across the back of the wearer, then around each hip, and the two ends of the band elastic strip come together at a point attached to a front tab 14. The back band of the belt consists of a pear-shaped band which has a loop 16 that passes across the front of the body of a wearer at the waist line, then passes down around a hip or thigh at each side of the body, and the ends of the band strip coming together at a point 18 which is attached to a back tab 20.

The attachment of the ends of the band strips to the tabs 14 and 20 consists of bias seams to bring the ends of the strips together at the tabs in a V form or point to have the bands lay flat on the body of the wearer,

2,699,171 Patented Jan. 11, 1955 The two parts of the belt cross on the hips or thighs at 22, and are connected together on each side by a guide 24. The ends of the guides 24 are spaced apart a substantial distance and are secured to the back band. The guides permit a limited vertical adjusting movement of the two bands to permit them to be properly adjusted to the shape of the body. After the two bands have been adjusted to a comfortable napkin holding position there is no change in position of the bands on the body due to changes in posture of the body. The elasticity of the bands compensates for the body movement and there is no downward pull on the abdomen or back of the wearer.

A safety pin 26 which is captive to a cord 28 is secured on the outside of each tab by which a napkin may be attached to a tab or the pins may be secured directly to the napkin or the tape at an end of the napkin.

In Figs. 4 and 5 are shown two modified pear-shaped bands which can be used in making the belt of the present invention. Each of the bands are made by folding a long strip of elastic back upon itself at the mid portion of the length with the two portions 30 and 32 of elastic arranged at an acute angle to one another, and then bringing the free ends of the two portions together and uniting them by one or more seams 34 to form a loop of the pear-shaped band. As shown in Fig. 4, a metal or plastic friction grip 36 is mounted at the elastic strip fold. The usual sanitary napkin has tapes at the front and back ends thereof by which the napkin may be attached to the grips 36. It will be understood that two of the pearshaped bands of Figs. 4 and 5 will be used in making the belt in the same way that the pear-shaped bands 12 and 16 of Figs. 1 and 2 are used in making the belt.

The pear-shaped band 38, 40 of Fig. 5 has the same construction as the band 30, 32 of Fig. 4. With the band 38, 40, however, a different kind of grip is used at the pointed end of the band. to which to attach the sanitary napkin. The grip of the band 38, 40 consists of a long buttonhole 42 which extends on both sides of a toothed clamp 44 mounted within a bias fold of the strip at the mid portion of the buttonhole. The tape on the end of a napkin is passed through the upper buttonhole, then across the teeth of the clamp 44 and out through the lower buttonhole to securely fasten the napkin at the pointed end of the band. With the construction of Fig. 5, the toothed clamp 44 may be metal or plastic, but it is concealed and does not come into con tact with the body of the wearer.

It is desirable to make the pear-shaped bands entirely of elastic. The back of the loop portions of each band may be either elastic or non-expansible tape. Further, the bands may be made partly of elastic and partly of loosely woven or knitted expansible cotton or nylon tape.

Three sizes of the belts as above described, when made of elastic, such as large, medium and small, will provide for the various sizes of wearers.

The preferred form of the invention having been thus described, what is claimed as new is:

1. A sanitary napkin belt comprising front and back pear-shaped bands, each band composed of a top loop portion design to engage the body of a wearer adjacent the waist line and a downwardly extending pointed portion to which a napkin tab is attached, said bands being arranged to cross each other at the sides of the loops and connected together by guides at the points of crossing.

2. The belt defined in claim 1 in which the connecting guides at the sides of the band loops are elongated to permit substantial relative movement of the two bands for different postures of and proper fitting of the wearer.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,518,631 Mullen Aug. 15, 1950 2,652,058 Carpenter Sept. 15, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 238,628 Great Britain Aug. 24, 1925 629,495 Germany Nov. 13, 1936 

